Madonna Of The Bakery.......
In the summer of 2003, there was a heat wave in Europe. It was so unbearable that most businesses closed during the searing heat of the afternoon and then reopened in the evening and then staying open until well after midnight.

I had just landed at Leonardo Da Vinci airport, picked up my rental car (with AC thank god) and headed south to try to find the hotel I had booked on the Internet. I have a confession to make. I travel all over the world and regularly get lost if there is a choice of more than one road I will take the wrong one. So after about 3 tries I finally found my hotel in the town of Pommesia south of Rome. With the time change I was not yet feeling sleepy so I went for a walk along the main road next to the beach. As I walked along I caught sight of a bakery with a sales window open to the street. In that window was this gorgeous woman that you see here. She had no idea I was leaning on a lamppost (to steady my camera) and took her photo as she stared pensively out into the darkness.

I decided to use no flash and so set the camera (Fuji S2 SLR Nikon based) and this photo was the result.

It is now one of my favourite photos that I have ever taken.

The natural lighting was amazing, outlining every muscle and particularly the shaft of light on her head giving her a type of halo... thus the name of the photo Madonna Of The Bakery.
One other detail... it was after midnight and a sign nearby was flashing a temperature reading 36C. (97F)